The “Internet of Things” (IoT) is predicted to include in the region of 20 billion devices by 2020, many of which will connect to the Internet or other networks wirelessly, via WiFi (or possibly via other wireless communication protocols).
Current issues of relevance include (i) that WiFi access points typically need to have (or benefit from having) security enabled; (ii) that access generally involves human interaction and/or pre-configuration keys/services; (iii) that registration is generally required of IoT “things” (i.e. sensors or other devices) to services; and (iv) that different services may require different data from different WiFi-connected “things”.
There are various different ways in which devices such as IoT sensors and other wireless devices may be connected to the Internet or other networks wirelessly. These generally involve access via a wireless-enabled gateway device which is connected to an Internet Service Provider's (ISP's) network configured to handle data received from (or data destined for) a wireless device. Accessing the Internet from a wireless device via an ISP's WiFi network may involve (i) enabling WiFi connectivity on the device and selecting the ISP's WiFi network from a list of available WiFi networks; (ii) entering a username and/or password on the device; and/or (particularly for mobile phones or “tablet” devices) possibly (iii) using an ISP's “WiFi App”, which may hold usernames and/or passwords, thus removing the need for users to enter them each time.
Most WiFi connections require authentication information (such as username and password and/or a key or code) to be entered, or a bespoke application needs to be used that passes on authentication details. Successful authentication generally then allows full internet access. Authentication may be managed at a WiFi Access Point (AP), the Access Point itself possibly being authenticated at an Authentication, Authorization & Accounting (AAA) server (also referred to as “Intelligent Services Gateways”), for example.
Fully open WiFi Access Points (i.e. those without authentication functionality) pose a security risk and are typically restricted to semi-public areas (e.g. hotels, shops). Even they generally have some authentication of the actual Access Points themselves: this may be at an AAA server, or at a Broadband Remote Access Server (B-RAS) where the desired authentication involves determining whether an associated broadband line is entitled to network services, or may involve an Access Control List (ACL) and/or routing entry in the case of wholly-IP networks, for example.
For users requiring or desiring WiFi access from a device such as a wireless-enabled mobile phone or “Smart-Phone”, authentication details are usually entered by users on a keypad or screen of the device concerned, but in some cases may rely on (a) authentication details being pre-loaded onto devices at the time of manufacture or later, or entered by means of another form of configuration process; b) activation of a key button on the WiFi device and/or the WiFi base station (using a “Wi-Fi Protected Access” protocol such as “WPA” or “WPA2”, for example); c) authentication using software (or an “App”) which checks credentials with a back-end server (if the WiFi is open (e.g. BT WiFi), this may need to be refreshed every few minutes, and needs an account); or d) a physical peripheral interface between a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) module and a portable device, for example.
Without pre-configured or automatic authentication”, a user using WiFi devices may be presented with a login page and/or be blocked from internet access.
For systems involving thousands or even millions of sensors, it may not be feasible to have easy access to the sensors (e.g. sensors on lamp posts in the context of “smart-cities” technologies, for example), and it would generally be time-consuming and expensive to set and/or change connection details for each of a multitude of such sensors. Moreover, it may not be feasible to have an account for each sensor.